


Mission Objective: Forever

by Shastelly



Category: Voltron: Legendary Defender
Genre: Christmas, Domestic Fluff, Fluff, I'm Bad At Tagging, Lance (Voltron) is a Good Boyfriend, M/M, Marriage Proposal, Minor Acxa/Veronica (Voltron), Past Curtis/Shiro (Voltron), Post-Canon, Shiro (Voltron) is a Good Boyfriend, Shiro loves a good plan, VLD Secret Santa 2020, Voltron Secret Santa 2020, how did i even write this, its so soft, there is a plan
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-12-23
Updated: 2020-12-23
Packaged: 2021-03-10 23:39:52
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,253
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28255542
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Shastelly/pseuds/Shastelly
Summary: Important moments in life should be carefully planned.  Down to the last detail.  Down to the last minute.  Ordered structured, labeled with color coded post-it notes...In which Shiro plans for a very important event with a very specific objective in mind.
Relationships: Lance/Shiro (Voltron)
Comments: 4
Kudos: 33





	Mission Objective: Forever

**Author's Note:**

  * For [Ebhenah](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Ebhenah/gifts).



"Is everyone clear?" Shiro scanned the table, his eyes moving from face to face. He needed to be certain that they all knew their part of the mission. This might be the most important one he had ever organized and he was not about to let any part of it fail.

"Shiro, you've gone over the plan 3 times tonight and I don't know how many times before that. We got it." Pidge snarked.

"Pidge, where should you be at 0500 tomorrow?" Shiro snapped.

"I will be in my bed with visions of sugar plums dancing in my head." Came the deadpan reply.

"Pidge." Shiro whined.

"I will be heading to the Garrison to arrange for the 0600 phone call from New Altea." Pidge sighed. "Shiro, I'll make sure it happens. Even if I have to threaten to zap them all with my bayard."

Shiro nodded tightly, "Keith?"

"I will pick up package Alpha at the designated location and deliver it to your doorstep at exactly 0700." 

Keith rolled his eyes as Shiro turned to the next two members of his team.

"Veronica, Marco?" 

"We will be at the back step at 0700 preparing for the sub-objective ‘Mess in the kitchen’. However, we take no responsibility if he strangles you for the mess." Veronica snapped off with a grin as Marco covered his mouth trying to smother his giggles.

Shiro frowned before turning to the final conspirator, “Matt?”

"I will be here at 0715 with package Beta. The caravan will park one street over to avoid suspicion. We will travel from the south to avoid being spotted from the kitchen window or the back step." Then Matt's serious tone dropped with a laugh, "Also, you have completely lost your mind and I love you for it." 

"How are you even here right now? Shouldn't you be at a family Christmas eve party?" Pidge's confused look skipped from Shiro to Veronica to Marco.

"Veronica and I had an important briefing and Marco drove us in case it ran over so that Axca and Lance would still have a vehicle to get to midnight mass if we ran late." Shiro recited with military precision.

"And he bought that?" Keith raised an eyebrow.

"He was…um…well, Axca challenged him to a drinking contest…and well…" Veronica giggled, "Um…she cheats."

"What?" Keith snapped, having lost a drinking contest to Axca himself.

"She keeps a spit jar and spits out the shots into the jar when you aren't looking." Veronica glanced at Keith with a grin, well aware that he'd been cheated as well.

"She had me on kitchen duty for two weeks in a row at Blade Headquarters! Do you know how much Galra eat?!" Keith snarled.

"I think we're getting off point." Matt broke in with suppressed laughter. "Apparently Lance is distracted or drunk enough to buy your flimsy excuse. You'd better get back to the party before he's too drunk to go to mass or too hungover to enjoy tomorrow."

Real worry flashed in Shiro's eyes as he dismissed the meeting and rushed out of the door. He may have broken the speed limit on the way back to the McClain house.  
***

Date: 12-25  
Hour: 0400

T-4 hours and 30 minutes

"Hmmm, baby are you awake?" Lance snuggled into Shiro's back. They'd only gotten back from Mass a few hours earlier. Between the holiday, a few drinks with Axca earlier in the evening and the fact that his boyfriend was a snack Lance had a few ideas of things they could do when they got home. Shiro had been very receptive. They'd showered and he'd fallen asleep snuggled against Shiro's warmth sometime around 2 am.

Lance smiled as he kissed down Shiro's spine. "Can't sleep, baby?"

"Not really," Shiro rolled over and wrapped his arm around Lance. "I never could sleep well when I'm excited. This is our first Christmas in our new home. I just want it to be perfect."

"It's perfect. It will be perfect. It has to be. You're here." Lance kissed his nose.

"I'm glad you're here too." Shiro brushed Lance's bangs from his forehead with his prosthetic. He watched those sleepy blue eyes blink tiredly at him, full of love. "Sleep honey, morning will come soon enough."

"Hmm…" Lance snuggled in tighter, pressing his body against Shiro. Shiro closed his eyes and took a deep breath. He was keyed up for today's mission. He was not going to let this go wrong. He'd planned it perfectly. He and Lance had moved in together last spring after dating for over a year. 

It had been three years since the war ended. He'd had a brief relationship with Curtis that ended amicably. Lance had taken a year to process Allura's death and be ready to move on with his life. The others had conspired together and set them up for blind dates for Valentine's day. They had even talked about the blind dates, not knowing that they were being set up together. Pidge and Hunk had set up Lance while Matt and Keith had set up Shiro. Shiro had nearly fallen over when he walked into Hunk's restaurant to find Lance at the bar with a black rose in his suit's lapel. He had looked just as shocked to see Shiro holding a single blue rose. They'd laughed at how obvious the roses had been and joked about their well meaning friends. They'd talked all night. Literally all night. First at the bar, then over dinner, then walking to a nearby park and then sitting together on a bench until the sun came up. He remembers so clearly watching Lance's face in the early morning light and thinking that this was what he had been missing. 

They had started dating exclusively after that. Shiro was still Captain of the Atlas and frequently away, however Lance traveled nearly as much as the official spokesperson for New Altea's message of peace. They made a point to go out or do something together every time their paths crossed. Shiro had met Lance's family in his new capacity as his boyfriend that summer at Lance's birthday party on Earth. They had welcomed him without reservation - just as loving and open as Lance. That fall they had celebrated Hunk's wedding to Shay on the Balmera. Christmas Eve had been spent on Earth with Lance's family and Christmas day was spent on the Atlas with the former Paladins, their significant others, Veronica, and some members of the Blade. Lance had made an offhand comment that he wished he had a home. 

Shiro had latched on to the comment and dug until he got an answer. Lance loved traveling and his life, but he missed having a house, a place to keep his stuff he had said. Shiro, being Shiro, had gone out and bought a house the next week. It was a two story house on the coast in California. It cost a fortune, but he knew it was right. It had a beautiful view of the ocean. It was modern and sleek, but it wasn't pretentious. It felt warm to him, like a home should. There was a pool in the back. It was a short flight to the Garrison and a shorter drive to Lance's parents' farm. So for Valentine's day that year, he'd brought Lance to the house. He told him he'd rented it for the week. When the week was over Shiro had handed Lance a gift bag - in it was the key to the house. He'd invited him to move in with him. Lance had tackled him before saying yes over and over while peppering his face with kisses.

Lance's brother had been hired to take care of the house when they weren't home, which was often, but it was worth it. Luis had laughed and said he would have done it for free just to have the pool for the kids to swim in. Since then they'd managed to spend another two weeks together at the house, but they had both used it individually on occasion when they were on Earth. Lance had taken a position as Altea's ambassador to Earth, which he found amusing since he was born on Earth, but the people of New Altea had come to accept him as one of their own. That fall Shiro had surprised them all by retiring as Captain of the Atlas and taken a position as the Commander of the Galaxy Garrison. Matt had taken command of the Atlas. A new interface that he and Pidge had developed had made that possible and Shiro was able to step away knowing his crew was in good hands. 

Now it was Christmas and they were together at home. These days they were home more than they weren't. Shiro flew to work in a small Altean pod that Coran had given him. Lance often rode with him as the Embassy was near campus. Lance's job still required occasional travel and he'd just gotten back from a trip to New Daibazaal a week ago. 

Shiro glanced over at his sleeping partner. His life had come together in very unexpected ways, but he wouldn't trade any of it away because it had brought him here to this day and this moment and he was absolutely going to make the most of it. He closed his eyes, his mind still swirling, but exhaustion getting the best of him. He'd planned it all out perfectly. He knew he had. Now he just needed to wait for the pieces to fall into place.

****

Date: 12-25  
Hour: 0600

T-2 hours and 30 minutes

A persistent ringing sound invaded his sleep. He blinked bleary eyes at the communicator pad in their bedroom. It was ringing. He stretched slowly, arching his back, before grabbing his blue robe from the corner of the bed and slipping it on as he made his way to the desk. Shiro mumbled in his sleep and rolled over to the warm spot he had just vacated. Lance smiled and decided to let him sleep. He gave his boyfriend one last appreciative look before throwing a blanket up over him and turning on the communicator. The screen blinked and cleared and there in front of him was Coran.

"Good Christmas!" Coran cheered.

"Merry Christmas to you, Coran." Lance laughed, he remembered fondly Christmas' spent on the Castle of Lions and teaching the Alteans traditions that seemed so strange to them. However, Coran was always particularly fond of Christmas.

"I see that I may have called early?" Coran asked. 

Lance looked back at Shiro's sleeping form, "A little, we were out late last night, but it's not that early and besides I like to get up early on Christmas." Lance chatted happily with Coran for nearly an hour, catching up on what had been happening on Altea, reliving old memories, discussing plans for a future visit - Lance noticed when Shiro got out of bed and headed to the shower and then crept out of the room dressed in his Christmas PJs that Lance had picked out for him. Shiro always looked good in black and the fitted long sleeved shirt was soft, the red and plaid flannel pants were just comfy and warm. 

"Lance, my boy?" Coran paused a soft smile on his face.

"Sorry, Coran, guess I got lost in my thoughts." Lance laughed.

"You seem very happy." Coran hummed happily.

"I am." Lance nodded.

"I am so glad, Lance. There was a time I thought I'd never see a smile on your face again. It is so good to see you and Shiro happy and doing so well. I wish you the very best today. My blessings to you and all that today brings." Coran announced almost formally.

"I…thank you, Coran." Lance signed off and wondered at the Altean's strange words, but before he could ponder on it too long. He heard Shiro coming back into the room. He was carrying a tray piled high with food.

"Shiro?!" Lance hopped up to help him. They got the tray set up on the bed. There were biscuits, butter, jam, bacon, omelets, and fried potatoes. "Wow,” Lance surveyed the spread. “Shiro? You did this?"

"Merry Christmas, love." Shiro smiled and sat on the bed. He handed Lance his blue mug that was filled with a steaming liquid.

Lance smiled and breathed in the steam from the cup appreciatively. "This is all wonderful and I don't mean to be ungrateful, but how?" It was a well known fact that Shiro couldn't cook.

"Well, I had some help." Shiro admitted. "Your mom's been giving me lessons. I managed the biscuits and the bacon. The omelets and potatoes are heated up - she actually made them."

"That is really sweet." Lance reached for a biscuit and put some marmalade on it. He took a bite and closed his eyes and moaned. "It's really good."

"I'm glad you like it." Mindful of the trays and their cups of coffee, Shiro leaned over and kissed Lance, enjoying the taste of orange on his lips.

They enjoyed their breakfast and when Lance was done, Shiro offered to carry the tray downstairs, saying something about cleaning up. Lance followed him wearing his own new Christmas PJs with the blue shirt and blue and red plaid pants. He walked through the living room smiling at their tree shining with lights and ornaments. He started walking toward the kitchen when Shiro rushed out looking somewhat nervous.

"Oh, um, I'm not done cleaning yet. I can get it though, why don't you relax."

Lance frowned. Shiro would not meet his eyes. "How bad is it?"

"Well I mean, I'm still learning and I may have had a few missteps on the way. I'm sure I can get it cleaned up…um…by the end of the day." Shiro gave him a fake kind of smile.

"Shiro, what did you do to my kitchen?" Lance edged forward. It was understood that the kitchen was Lance's. This morning's breakfast was something new. Shiro moved to block him and Lance dodged the other way ducking around Shiro and into the doorway of the kitchen where he froze. "Dios." Lance whispered before turning wide eyes to him. "How? I mean why? How and why? There is flour on the ceiling. Is that an eggshell? Shiro, why are there eggshells on the window?"

"I can clean it." Shiro offered properly sheepish.

"No. No." Lance was trying to be understanding and grateful as Shiro had done something very nice, but his kitchen was also a mess. "I've got this. It's better to clean things like egg up as soon as possible. It will be worse if it dries."

"I can help?" Shiro tried.

"Nope. You cooked. I'll clean." Lance rolled his sleeves up. "It won't take me too long."

Date: 12-25  
Hour: 0800

T - 30 minutes

Shiro opened the front door and Matt stood there with a shit-eating grin. He looked at his watch.

"Yes, you're on time. Good job." Shiro ushered him into the living room. 

"At least you didn't have to hide out there for an hour." Keith huffed as he joined them. 

"Stop whining, I had to get up early." Pidge smacked Keith on the arm. 

"Be quiet. Veronica and Marco will be back in about 15 and we need to be ready." Shiro hushed them and grabbed some boxes from the porch. They had work to do.

Date: 12-25  
Hour: 0815

T - 15 minutes

Lance looked around the spotless kitchen. It had taken him longer than he thought, but it was back up to his standards. He could understand the flour all over the counter, but why were there egg shells stuck on the windows, the walls, and the fridge? He guessed Shiro had tried to crack an egg with his prosthetic or something. Why there was cocoa powder on the ceiling was another mystery. It's not like there was anything chocolate on the plate….maybe it had been in the coffee? Lance didn't remember it tasting particularly chocolatey, but then based on past experience, he was lucky that it had tasted like coffee. He smiled and wrapped his arms around himself. Shiro had been so sweet this morning. Everything was just so perfect, cleaning up a little mess seemed to be right too. 

He slipped his apron off and hung it on the hook by the door. He was looking forward to giving Shiro his gift. He'd searched and searched before settling on the perfect gift. It was a ring. It was a thick black band, but if you looked closely the black looked like it had swirls of color in it, moving and changing depending on the wearer’s body temperature, like a cool space mood ring only really nice. Or at least Lance thought it was really nice. He hoped that Shiro did too. Lance really hoped Shiro didn't think it was too presumptuous. Lance would love to be married, but he was very happy with their lives and he wasn't going to push Shiro. Shiro had rushed into marriage with Curtis, and, well trying to set a record for the shortest marriage ever had not been in Shiro's life goals and he had seemed rather nervous about the topic. That was alright though, Lance took a deep breath. He'd take Shiro any way he could get him.

"Shiro, I've got the kitchen done. I don't know how you managed to generate quite that mess, but I really appreciate the food and all and maybe next time I can cook with you and we can cut back on the clean up time." Lance yelled into the next room.

"Yeah, you're probably right." Shiro answered. "I already changed, if you want to go ahead we can open presents when you get down?"

Date: 12-25  
Hour: 0830

T - 0 minutes

Lance checked his appearance one more time. He planned to take some pictures later and he wanted to look his best. He'd put on a soft blue sweater and a pair of comfortable khaki slacks, casual but nice. He took one last glance at the mirror to check his hair and headed down the stairs. 

Lance started to speak as he walked down the stairs and to the living room where the tree was set up and he expected to find Shiro waiting to open presents. "I…"

Lance's brain stopped working. Just shut off mid thought and stopped running because he could not process the sight in front of him. He's sure he just stood there with his mouth open half formed word never coming out of his lips. 

The room in front of him was transformed. Their Christmas tree still adorned the corner near the couch, but now it dimmed in comparison to the blue and red lights strung from one end of the room to the next. The walls were covered in net lights and then draped with gauzy fabric creating this glow that made the whole room seem magical. The fabric was gathered in places and bouquets of blue and black roses hung with bows filled the room with their fragrance. The room was also filled with people. Lance's entire family, Pidge, Matt, Hunk and Shay, Keith, and Shiro. Shiro stood in the middle of the room, beneath the mistletoe that Lance himself had hung from the light at the beginning of the season. He was wearing a black henley shirt and black slacks. He was watching Lance intently.

"Um…" Lance looked bewildered. They had discussed having people over that evening, but this was…what was this? He walked slowly to where Shiro was standing. Shiro took both of Lance's hands in his own and knelt down on one knee. He held a box in front of him and resting in the box was a silver band with a line of rubies running diagonal from one side and a line of sapphires running the opposite diagonal. Shiro stared straight into Lance's eyes. Lance thought his heart might beat right out of his chest.

"Lance McClain, I love you. I have loved you for a long time now. You are so kind and loving. You are selfless and brave. You are reckless and loud. You are full of joy and love of life. You make me a better person. You make me want to be better. You are amazing. You are beautiful inside and out. I cannot imagine my heart being more full of love than it is when I am with you. You took this old, broken person and you made me feel young and new. You made me appreciate life again. You gave me hope and love that I didn't think I would ever feel. I love you with everything that I am. Lance McClain, would you do me the great honor of marrying me?"

Lance felt like he had held his breath the entire time. He could feel tears of joy streaming down his face, it was so perfect. Shiro was so perfect. He just couldn't breathe.

"Lance?"

A brief flicker of fear or concern on Shiro's face had him sucking in a breath of air and answering in a breathless whisper, "yes, dios yes." His hands were shaking in Shiro's, he was still not in control of his breathing, and tears continued to stream down his cheeks, but the smile on his face was filled with complete joy. Shiro slipped the ring onto his finger. It was perfect.

***

Shiro surged up and wrapped his arms around Lance. He held him tenderly meeting his eyes for several moments committing the look on Lance's face to memory. He leaned forward and kissed him for all he was worth. There were several catcalls and wolf whistles in the background but he ignored them, intent on making sure Lance knew exactly how he felt just then. 

When they broke apart the room was filled with the cheering of their friends and family. Many gave them hugs and handshakes and congratulations. Matt opened several bottles of champagne and they toasted the newly engaged couple. Everyone stayed for lunch as Shiro had arranged for a caterer to bring food. Shiro floated through it all on cloud nine. Everything had gone just as he'd planned to the last detail. The look on Lance's face had been worth every moment of planning, every second stressing over the plan, even worth the ribbing from Matt and Keith. As the meal wrapped up groups began to drift their separate ways going to other celebrations for the holiday or heading home. Each left them with well wishes and soon the house was quiet again.

Lance was curled on the couch staring at his ring and smiling. Shiro grabbed his phone and snapped a picture. 

"Are you happy, baby?" Shiro asked, crawling onto the couch behind him.

"Very." Lance hummed before turning and planting a kiss on Shiro's cheek. "How did I get so lucky?"

"I'm the lucky one." Shiro responded, returning the kiss softly to Lance's lips.

"Oh!" Lance pulled back. "I didn't get to give you your present yet!" He hopped up and scrambled around the tree, pulling a small box out from between the branches. "I well, I didn't know what you had planned, obviously - you are very sneaky." Lance paused to give him a fake glare. "So when I got this I was just thinking you would like it, but it also kind of works out perfectly too." Lance walked over to the couch and knelt down on one knee. He opened the box and Shiro stared at the beautiful band. He smiled and looked up to meet Lance's eyes.

"Takashi Shirogane, I love you. I've loved you for so long. When I first met you, you were this amazing legend and my hero and I thought that I loved you so much then, but it was nothing. When I got to know you I realized that you were not only all of those things that I had hero worshipped, but so much more. You are brave and courageous in the face of unbeatable odds. You are strong and steady when it feels like everything is falling apart. You are kind and understanding when I'm messy and undeserving. You are my guiding light when I feel lost. You are my rock when I feel weak. You are my everything and I can't wait to spend the rest of my life with you. I can't wait to show you every day how much you mean to me and how much I love you. Takashi Shirogane, will you marry me back?" Lance took a deep breath and Shiro could see the tears welling in his eyes again.

"Yes, I will marry you back." Shiro held out his hand and let Lance slip the ring onto his finger. He then pulled Lance back into his lap and held him close. "I planned everything and it went just as I'd planned and it was perfect and you still somehow managed to make it even better."

"That's because we're better together." Lance snuggled against Shiro's just. "So you had a plan?"

"You better believe it. There were diagrams and timetables." Shiro responded seriously.

"So it was a mission?" Lance turned and raised one eyebrow.

"Yep." Shiro nodded satisfied.

"And did you accomplish your objective Commander Shirogane?" Lance teased.

"Mission successful." Shiro reported. "All objectives met. Primary objective, "forever" achieved."

"Forever?" Lance whispered.

"And ever." Shiro whispered back.


End file.
